Hinderstap
Hinderstap is a village located in northern Murandy, near the south border of Andor, not far from the border with Altara. It specializes in producing goat's cheese and mutton for the other villages and towns in the surrounding region. The mayor, Barlden, is a good strong leader for the people. While Hinderstap used to be a welcoming town to outsiders, in present days visitors are restricted from entering while the sun is set. Touched by the Shadow Recently, Hinderstap was subject to a horrible bubble of evil. Unlike most of these bubbles, however, the effects of this one have not faded since first afflicting the town. Every evening, after the sun sets, every one of the villagers loses all awareness of the present, and goes into a mad rage. Every man, woman, and child unconsciously begins to murderously attack each other, and almost all the residents are killed by each other. However, as soon as the sun rises again on the following morning, the villagers all wake up in their beds, the dead no longer dead, and the only sign of anything having happened during the night are damages to buildings and clothing. Not a drop of blood is seen, and the people only have the memories of what they thought were nightmares. The events then repeat themselves every night. This loop is completely inescapable, as the villagers have discovered. Even if they leave the town, or even kill themselves during the daytime, they still disappear from where they are once the sun rises and reappear in their own beds again. If someone from outside the village is present during the night and is killed during the townspeople's rage, then they too become part of the loop, and will start waking in any one of the vacant beds in the village, usually in the inns. Mat Cauthon visits Hinderstap after leaving Altara, accompanied by Thom Merillin, three Aes Sedai, and five Redarms. Despite warnings, they do not manage to leave before sunset, and have to endure the rabidness of the night. Luckily, they manage to escape, although three of the Redarms who were sent ahead earlier are unaccounted for. After the mayor, Barlden, explains the situation on the following morning, Mat and his group leave, unable to do anything to help. The Creator editing? Upon leaving the village, Mat stated that this must indeed have been a bubble of evil, but also speculated that the situation was repeating itself because the Pattern was trying to fix this rip in itself, by having the village "start over" every morning. The outcome or further events of this kind remain yet to be seen, if even at all. Role in the Last Battle In the Last Battle, Mat uses his knowledge of Hinderstap in the battle at the Field of Merrilor: he predicts that the armies of the Dark will try to build a dam across the River Mora to allow Trolloc forces to cross this major obstacle on the battlefield. Rather than committing a large force to prevent this, Mat has the inhabitants of Hinderstap guard the place where a dam is most easily built. They are easily overwhelmed and killed, but on the next morning they return to life and, together with an Asha'man, defeat the force set to guard the dam and destroy it. The returning river drowns large numbers of Trollocs. This gambit allowed Mat to use the enemy's tactic against them. In order to be more believable, it required the guards of the site to be slaughtered completely. Using the Hinderstap villagers made this possible without sending people deliberately to their deaths, and also made it easier to surprise the Dark forces guarding the dam. Speculation The events at Hinderstap were likely caused by a bubble of evil, or by the Dark One's touch. It is speculated that after the Dark One was sealed away and the Pattern healed, Hinderstap and its citizens will finally return to normal. Category:Villages Category:Murandy